leadership coaching Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

BONUS: Why Embedding Sales with Engineering in Stealth Mode Changed Everything for Snowflake

In this episode, we talkabout what it really takes to scale go-to-market from zero to billions. We interview Chris Degnan, a builder of one of the most iconic revenue engines in enterprise software at Snowflake. This conversation is grounded in the transformation described in his book Make It Snow—the journey from early-stage chaos to durable, aligned growth.

Embedding Sales with Engineering While Still in Stealth

“I don’t expect you to sell anything for 2 years. What I really want you to do is get a ton of feedback and get customers to use the product so that when we come out of stealth mode, we have this world-class product.”

Chris joined Snowflake when there were zero customers and the company was still in stealth mode. The counterintuitive move of embedding sales next to engineering so early wasn’t about driving immediate revenue, it was about understanding product-market fit. Chris’s job was to get customers to try the product, use it for free, and break it. And break it they did. This early feedback led to material changes in the product before general availability. The approach helped shape their ideal customer profile (ICP) and gave the engineering team real-world validation that shaped Snowflake’s technical direction. In a world where startups are pressured to show revenue immediately, Snowflake’s investors took the opposite approach: focus on building a product people cannot live without first.

Why Sales and Marketing Alignment Is Existential

“If we’re not driving revenue, if the revenue is not growing, then how are we going to be successful? Revenue was king.” Continue reading BONUS: Why Embedding Sales with Engineering in Stealth Mode Changed Everything for Snowflake

BONUS: Why Your Teams Really Resist Change, The Neuroscience of Leadership That Nobody Taught You With Andra Stefanescu

In this BONUS episode, we explore the challenges leaders face during transformations with leadership coach Andra Stefanescu. Drawing from her extensive research and coaching experience, Andra shares powerful insights on fostering psychological safety, understanding brain-based responses to change, and developing the emotional intelligence needed to lead effectively. She reveals practical frameworks and techniques that help leaders navigate resistance and build meaningful connections with their teams.

The Leadership Challenge of Transformation

“People are giving resistance… and in general, leaders are feeling overwhelmed in times of changes, whatever those changes are.”

Resistance and overwhelm are the two biggest challenges leaders face during transformations. Through her research and coaching work across different industries, Andra has found that leaders often feel powerless when their teams resist change. This resistance stems from basic psychological needs not being met. Leaders can overcome these challenges by understanding the different psychological needs of their team members and adapting their communication accordingly. By using specific frameworks, leaders can address resistance more effectively and rediscover their passion for leadership.

Understanding the Brain’s Response to Change

“When something is changed, whatever that is… what your brain perceives is like a threat because the one question that we put all day long in our brains is: is this safe for me?”

The brain naturally resists change because it prefers routine and automation. When facing transformation, people instinctively question whether the change is safe, which triggers resistance. This creates a challenging dynamic where leaders experiencing their own fear and resistance become less able to empathize with their team’s concerns. Andra emphasizes the importance of leaders “putting their own mask on first” by acknowledging their own feelings and ensuring they’re in the right state of mind before attempting to lead others through change.

The Middle Manager’s Dilemma

“Middle managers are in the middle, they have high pressure from above, high pressure from down… And this is where they arrive in this powerless situation, where they ask themselves, how can I make this work?” Continue reading BONUS: Why Your Teams Really Resist Change, The Neuroscience of Leadership That Nobody Taught You With Andra Stefanescu

BONUS: Marshall Goldsmith on Leadership, AI, and Coaching for the Future

In this BONUS episode, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, the world-renowned leadership coach and bestselling author, shares transformative insights into leadership, coaching, and how AI is reshaping the future of these fields. With over 3 million books sold and recognition as the #1 leadership thinker globally, Marshall takes us on a journey through his career, his new AI project, and practical lessons for leaders at all levels.

From Situational Leadership to Coaching Titans

Marshall shares the pivotal moments that launched his career in leadership coaching. From collaborating with Paul Hersey on Situational Leadership to developing his revolutionary coaching model, Marshall shares how aligning his methods with results-driven outcomes has shaped his approach.

“I always get paid after the results. This keeps the focus where it belongs—on the client’s success, not mine.”

Counterintuitive Lessons in Leadership

Continue reading BONUS: Marshall Goldsmith on Leadership, AI, and Coaching for the Future

Shahin Sheidaei: How to setup an organization transformation with the leadership team, a Scrum Master how-to!

Shahin joined a company to work with teams. However, when he joined, he quickly realized that the issues the teams were facing were not caused by the teams themselves. When Shahin tried to work with leadership, he realized that he would not be very successful if he continued to push in that direction, so he backed out and looked for other ways to influence leadership. Listen in to learn how Shahin was able to help leaders understand what needed to be done, and how he setup the work with the leadership team.

About Shahin Sheidaei

Shahin Sheidaei is an Agile, Lean and Success Coach,International Speaker, Transformation Expert, and Entrepreneur.

Shahin is a passionate organizational designer focusing on organizational performance, and is also founder and principal coach at Elevate Change Inc.

You can link with Shahin Sheidaei on LinkedIn and connect with Shahin Sheidaei on Twitter.

Salvatore Rinaldo: Taking the lead in an Agile transformation, the Agile Coaching approach

In this episode, we hear the story of a large-scale Agile transformation that started with the business units taking the lead on engaging Agile Coaches. At first, that was enough. However, soon the Agile Coaches realized that their potential impact was being hampered by the lack of understanding of where Agile could help these business units. Salvatore shares the story of how they turned the engagement model around, and started to work together with the business unit leaders, instead of waiting for them to call on the Agile Coaches.

About Salvatore Rinaldo

Salvatore is an Agile Coach and Scrum Master based in London. His background is in telecommunications and software engineering. For the past 7 years, Salvatore has been helping organizations leverage Lean, agile, Flow principles and system thinking to achieve better business agility.

You can link with Salvatore Rinaldo on LinkedIn.